Archive for April 8, 2012

Flash: gas pipeline to Israel bombed

For the 14th time since the Egyptian uprising, gas pipeline to Israel was bombed.  It took 13 previous bombings for Thomas Friedman to concede that his notion that Egyptian uprising had no foreign policy goals was very dumb.

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

`Izzat Ad-Duri video

I saw the rest of the video by dying `Izzat Ad-Duri.  It is funny because Al-Arabiyyah TV (the news station of King Fahd’s brother-in-law) only aired his anti-Iranian rant but did not air the anti-US rant.  Funny.

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

lovely message for children during the holidays from this guy

“”The darkness that poses a real threat to mankind, after all, is the fact that he can see and investigate tangible material things, but cannot see where the world is going or whence it comes, where our own life is going, what is good and what is evil.”"

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Sunni versus Shi`ite

This writer in Al-Ahram is sectarian and is confusing sects. (thanks Basim)

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Arabic twitter

From Angry Arab’s chief Bahrain correspondent:  ”this hashtag is trending in bahrain: #WhyhateUSAadmin”.

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

that is funny: Jordanian government arrests Libyan NATO rebels

This is really funny.  Jordanian government arrests Libyan NATO rebels after they chanted for the overthrow of the regime in Jordan.  

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Jim Muir also watches Youtube

I used to really enjoy Jim Muir’s dispatches from Lebanon in Middle East International in the past.  Jim Muir is now covering Syria from Lebanon.  Yesterday, I heard him say: that it is not possible to verify information and that most of them…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Our dogs can smell terrorists from miles away

“”Our dogs know how to spare civilians and home in on terrorists,” says Sivan, a captain. “How do they? That’s our secret.”" (thanks Alain)

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

`Izzat Ad-Duri

I listened to the tape by `Izzat Ad-Duri (played and replayed and replayed on Al-Arabiyya TV–the news station of King Fahd’s brother-in-law).  The language used was not used under Saddam: under Saddam, the language was anti-Iranian but secular Ar…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

How to save New York Times from financial ruin

I have that plan. The paper is not doing well at all. My financial plan is simple: close down all foreign bureaus and do what the correspondents of the paper are doing on Syria: a combination of watching Youtube videos and skyping with people.  Th…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

He saw it on Youtube, damn it. What better evidence for Neil MacFarquhar?

“Given the lack of access to Syria by any independent observers, including reporters, such accounts are impossible to confirm independently. But a video posted on YouTube by a separate group of activists showed what they said was the charred home of an…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

The occupied really love the occupiers but…

This is a common story with occupiers.  Occupiers always suffer from the delusion that the natives-under-occupation would really have appreciated and loved the occupation if it were not for a nasty foreign conspiracy against the occupiers.  I…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

The friendship with an Israeli politician

Whenever an American runs for president, he/she has to produce to the press evidence of a friendship with an Israeli right-wing politician.  The more extreme the better. These are convenient friendships.  This is like the story that Bill Clin…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Libyan NATO militias and slaves

“”The going rate for a migrant is anywhere from 260 to 800 Libyan dinars,” or about $210 to $645, said Jeremy Haslam, chief of the Libya mission for the International Organization for Migration. “One of the problems is that many detention facilities ar…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Syrian army

Any solution in Syria should exclude the top brass of the Syrian army and should insist on a major restructuring of this lousy army.  This is an army that only suffered defeats against Israel, and experiences “heroic” moments against civilian popu…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Human rights violations by Syrian opposition groups

In this article, Yasin Hajj Salih (with whom I disagree fundamentally and with whom I engaged in a political battle in Al-Akhbar), admits that he had called for a committee to investigate human rights violations by armed opposition groups but that the …

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Haytham Al-Manna`

Haytham Al-Manna` is a brave Syrian dissident.  He has been principled, although I occasionally disagree with him, here and there.  I disagreed for example with his agreement with Syrian National Council, which only lasted a few hours.  …

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Turkey and Syrian refugees

“As soon as her family and 200 other people entered Turkey, they were met by soldiers who left them in the rain for hours until buses could come and take them to the camps.  ”I thought a lot about going back to Syria,” said Um Mohammad, who is fro…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Bahrain update

A Bahraini source sent me this:  ”By the way, if you are only every going to watch two videos from Bahrain watch these twoVideo 1: The misery of Bahraini’s daily lives: watch these women and children being evacuated after nearly suffocating from t…

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad

Dumb psychological operations

Look at this story in the Washington Post:  ”U.S. intelligence gains in Iran seen as boost to confidence”.  If this is true, it would not have leaked.  It would have been kept as a secret. How dumb do think readers are?

Posted on April 8, 2012 by As'ad